Non-rigid shoebox

ABSTRACT

A shoebox fabricated from non-rigid, fashionable material which makes it stylish and utilizing more rigid, wall height corner brackets that give it structural definition and functionality.

BACKGROUND

The present invention generally relates to shoeboxes, and it is specifically directed to a shoebox that may be deemed more luxurious than traditional shoeboxes due to it being fabricated, primarily, of a fashionable, non-rigid material such as a leather or quality fabric.

Typically, shoeboxes are rectangular box-shaped structures made of cardboard material and having either separate, lift-off or integrated lids. Cardboard is almost exclusively the material employed because it is inexpensive and lightweight, and a single sheet of it can be multiply folded into a rectangular box structure of sufficient rigidity to both enclose and support the carrying of shoes, and to be stacked beneath at least some moderate quantity of similar shoe-filled boxes. Furthermore, the inexpensiveness of cardboard makes the shoebox component of a ready-to-sell shoe product a virtually negligible element of the shoe manufacturer's production cost, and it renders the shoebox a mere disposable waste item in the eyes of the typical shoe purchaser.

However, the shoebox does not necessarily have to be relegated to that conventional role of only facilitating the organized storage of sellable shoes, by shoe manufacturers and retailers, before those shoes make their way to end consumers who, invariably, perceive the shoebox as quickly discardable and having no relation to the value of the shoes that it contained. In fact, the present inventor anticipates a paradigm shift occurring in a segment of shoe commerce—one in which the value of the shoebox is elevated to the extent that the quality and perceived value of the shoebox, itself, become significant considerations in consumers' shoe buying decisions.

To that end, the aesthetic design of and, maybe more importantly, the choice of material used to fabricate a shoebox becomes critically important. In that vein, the present inventor foresees that, instead of cardboard, more fashionable shoeboxes could be constructed of more coveted materials such as leather or quality fabric of various sorts. However, beyond the mere fact that, heretofore, it simply may not have occurred to most shoe producers to make substantial investments in the quality of their shoeboxes, leathers and fabrics are not obvious candidates for shoebox construction because those materials lack sufficient rigidity to actually create a stackable, easily carriable box structure

Consequently, the present inventor has recognized a need for a new construction for a shoebox that uses rigid support components which enable non-rigid, fashionable material to serve as the primary box material. He further recognizes that this construction should be such that the more rigid support components are positioned so as to be outwardly concealed and, in no way, detract from the fashion sense created by the leather or fabric primary material.

SUMMARY

It is an object of the present invention to provide a shoebox fabricated, primarily, from non-rigid, fashionable material which makes it both stylish and structurally functional.

In one aspect of the inventive shoebox, it is made from a unitary sheet of non-rigid material. This material will, typically, be a leather or a fabric (e.g., velvet, denim, burlap, etc.) that will be deemed fashionable by at least some consumers. Furthermore, it is important that the chosen material be capable of being drawn taut and, when so drawn into a box configuration, is durable enough to hold a pair of shoes without significant risk of rupturing under anything approaching normal shoe-filled shoebox handling and storage.

In another aspect of the invention, the sheet of material is cut in an outline shape that enables it to be folded along four crease lines to form a rectangular box bottom, an opposing pair of rectangular box sidewalls (front and rear), and an opposing pair of rectangular box end walls (left and right). Optionally, that same sheet may be shaped such that it can be further folded along one additional crease line to form a box lid that is hinged along one sidewall and rests atop the upper rims of the other sidewall and of the two end walls. And yet another, sixth crease may exist to create a frontal lip along the lid that hangs downward to overlap a portion of the front sidewall. That lip and the front sidewall may be further designed to include a button and buttonhole fastening arrangement for securing the lid into closed position.

Finally, in yet another aspect of the inventive shoebox, perpendicular brackets are situated in the four corners of the box formed at the respective meetings of the (1) front sidewall and left end wall, (2) front sidewall and right end wall, (3) rear sidewall and left end wall, and (4) rear sidewall and right end wall—and these brackets are dimensioned to attach to each of those walls (by adhesive or other fastening means) for substantially all or completely all of their upright heights. These brackets should be rigid and, therefore, may be made of a different material such as plastic or cardboard. However, they could even be made of leather that is more rigid due to being thicker than the leather of the primary folded sheet component. In any case, the purpose of the corner brackets are to hold the four walls upright in a taught, functional box structure.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a top plan view of the primary sheet portion of the shoebox in accordance with the present invention, the sheet shown in an unfolded and planar state;

FIG. 2 is a perspective view of a corner bracket component of the shoebox in accordance with the present invention;

FIG. 3 is a perspective view of the constructed shoebox in accordance with the present invention, its lid shown in an open position; and

FIG. 4 is a perspective view of the same, its lid shown in a closed position.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

This disclosure, as defined by the claims that follow, relates to a shoebox construction in which non-rigid, presumably fashionable, material heretofore deemed unsuitable for use as shoebox walls is so used and is kept in taut supporting condition by way of box corner bracket pieces that have greater rigidity.

As can be seen in FIG. 1, in its simplest form, the present shoebox is formed from a single sheet 1 of leather or other non-rigid material, such as any number of fabrics, that has an outline which appears as one larger rectangle elongated in a longitudinal direction and overlaid by two spaced apart smaller rectangles that are elongated in lateral directions. It should be noted that, within the spirit and scope of the invention, multiple discrete sheets of the chosen material can be sewn together end-to-end to produce the same configuration, but in the discussion that follows, it is assumed that a single sheet of leather material is employed.

Referring, again, to FIG. 1, the material sheet 1 can be viewed as made up of nine distinct rectangular sections 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 12, 14, 15, 16 (although, sections 12, 14 and 15 may be ornamentally designed in non-rectangular profile) that are each demarcated from at least one other such section by an imaginary folding line. Hereinafter, all such folding lines may be referred to as various “creases,” and the demarcations are made apparent by introducing a series of perpendicular folds of the sheet material along them.

To wit, a front sidewall 4 is formed by folding the sheet 1 along a front sidewall crease 20 and raising that section 4 upward. A left end wall 2 is formed by folding the sheet 1 along a left end wall crease 24 and raising that section 2 upward. A right end wall 3 is formed by folding the sheet 1 along a right end wall crease 26 and raising that section 3 upward. Finally, a rear sidewall 5 is formed by folding the sheet 1 along a rear sidewall crease 22 and raising that section 5 upward. All the preceding folding and upright positioning of sheet sections produces a pair of opposing and longitudinally extending sidewalls 4, 5, a pair of opposing and laterally extending end walls 2, 3, and a box bottom surface 6 situated between them all.

To keep these sidewalls 4, 5 and end walls 2, 3 in upright position and interconnected, each sidewall is joined to an end wall by way of a bracket 7 formed by perpendicular longitudinal panels 9 and lateral panels 8 (see FIG. 2) that are as tall as the height of each wall surface 2, 3, 4, 5. Each bracket 7 is positioned at one of the four corners where a respective end of a side wall and end of an end wall meets. There, each bracket's longitudinal panel 9 is secured (typically, by adhesive, but could be by other fastening means such as sewing, riveting, etc.) to a sidewall, while its lateral panel 8 is identically secured to an end wall. Importantly, the brackets 7 should be rigid pieces (substantially more rigid than the leather sheet, anyway), and they should secure to the entire heights of the sidewalls 4, 5 and end walls 2, 3 in such a way that those walls are not only held upright, they are held in such taut condition that they collectively form a functional shoebox structure.

As previously alluded to, if sheet sections 12, 14 and 15 were not part of the unfolded sheet design, the above described folding and bracketing would complete an open topped box structure. Then, to complete the box enclosure, a separate lift off type lid (not shown) would be needed to fit over the upper rims of the sidewalls 4, 5 and end walls 2, 3, and it could be similarly formed using a separate sheet of material. However, using a material sheet configured as shown in FIG. 1 enables an integral lid to be formed by introducing a few additional folds.

Specifically, a box lid 10 that extends from the rear sidewall 5 and pivots between a range of open positions (see FIG. 3) and a closed position (see FIG. 4) that completes a box enclosure is formed by making a fold along a front sidewall crease 20, another fold along a left end wall crease 24, and another fold along a right end wall crease 26. This produces a left lid end wall 14 that hangs down over an upper portion of the box left end wall 2, a right lid end wall 15 that hangs down over an upper portion of the box right end wall 3, and a lid front sidewall that hangs down over an upper portion of the box front sidewall 4. While not shown, a pair of corner brackets configured like those used to support the main structure of the box could also be positioned to join the left and right ends of the lid front sidewall 12 to the lid end walls 14, 15. 

What is claimed is:
 1. A box comprising: a substantially rectangular bottom; an opposing pair of substantially rectangular sidewalls that extend both upward from the bottom and longitudinally; an opposing pair of substantially rectangular end walls that extend both upward from the bottom and laterally between the sidewalls, thereby forming box corners; corner brackets for providing structural support to the sidewalls and end walls, wherein the corner brackets are disposed at the box corners and each comprise: a longitudinal panel attached to and extending substantially the height of a sidewall; and a perpendicularly adjoining lateral panel attached to and extending substantially the height of an end wall; and wherein the bottom, sidewalls, and end walls are substantially fabricated of non-rigid material.
 2. The box of claim 1, wherein said bottom, sidewalls, and end walls are formed from a unitary sheet of material folded along at least four creases.
 3. The box of claim 1, further comprising a lift-off lid configured to fit over the sidewalls and end walls to create a box enclosure.
 4. The box of claim 1, wherein said non-rigid material is leather.
 5. The box of claim 1, wherein said non-rigid material is a fabric.
 6. A box comprising: a substantially rectangular bottom; an opposing pair of substantially rectangular sidewalls that extend both upward from the bottom and longitudinally; an opposing pair of substantially rectangular end walls that extend both upward from the bottom and laterally between the sidewalls, thereby forming box corners; corner brackets for providing structural support to the sidewalls and end walls, wherein the corner brackets are disposed at the box corners and each comprise: a longitudinal panel attached to and extending substantially the height of a sidewall; and a perpendicularly adjoining lateral panel attached to and extending substantially the height of an end wall; a lid that extends from a sidewall and is pivotable between an open position and a closed position that forms a box enclosure; and wherein the bottom, sidewalls, and end walls are substantially fabricated of non-rigid material.
 7. The box of claim 6, wherein said bottom, sidewalls, and end walls are formed from a unitary sheet of material folded along at least four creases.
 8. The box of claim 6, wherein said non-rigid material is leather.
 9. The box of claim 6, wherein said non-rigid material is a fabric. 